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Tuesday, 4 December 2012

When You're Not In The Mood

Do you ever wake up and know you have things to do but don't feel like it? Sometimes I just want to stay in bed all day and not go to work and other times I simply don't want to go and visit my relatives for thanksgiving. You feel meh?

Most days, however, I DO NOT feel like writing. Sometimes I'm too tired or I feel like going outdoors and riding my bike or shooting hoops or something active instead of sitting in front a desk for hours. I do that enough during the day, in the afternoons and on the weekends I want a change of pace. But here's the thing: I feel guilty when I don't write when I should be. I'm a firm believer in deadlines, outlines and all things cohesive so when I fail to do what needs to be done, I question my integrity. What kind of writer am I if I don't feel like writing half the time? How can I be a successful writer if I don't write? It's a conundrum, of sorts, because when I put it off for the next day I end up doing so again and it may continue like a cycle for days on end. At the moment, I haven't done any work on my YA or MG for three days. Three whole days! That's forty eight hours, four thousand three hundred and twenty minutes and two hundred and fifty nine thousand two hundred seconds. Is this bad? Am I supposed to write every single day? And if I don't live, breath and eat writing every hour of every minute, am I truly a writer?

Do you sometimes neglect your writing because you don't feel like it? And how do you get in the mood if such a thing occurs?

7 comments:

Oh all the time! Right now in fact. That's why I'm mooching around Blogger!

If I knew the secret I'd be bottling it and earning millions. But don't be too hard on yourself, sometimes we do need a break to recharge. But sometimes we just need to get our heads down and do it. Like I should today. Right now. In a minute. Maybe...

For me it's a lot like the gym- I don't always feel like it, but once I get started. I'm fine. It is, however, acceptable to take a break. Sometime a day here and there can rejuvenate us, and sometimes, we need some extended time away from a specific project. I don't typically write while my manuscript is with beta readers or critique partners - I use that time as "vacation" so I'm refreshed and ready when it comes back to me.

I've been at a frenetic pace with my writing since February. Now I'm succumbing to the pressure. I'm taking a break, starting Monday. Writing simply cannot be everything. At least not to me.

My recommendation: don't put pressure on yourself. You'll burn out if you do. Let writing happen organically. Maybe set aside 30 minutes a day to write whatever you can at that time, then let it go. That way, you're still writing every day--even if it's crap. Eventually, I believe, it will come more naturally.

GREETINGS, EARTHLING!! While I can only stay in this existence finite for a while (gotta run back to the Elysian Fields soon), take anything and everything you wanna from our wonderfull, plethora-of-thot to write the next, great masterpeace -if- I can but kiss your gorgeous, adorable feets and/or cohesively cuddle withe greatest, ex-mortal-girly-ever to arrive in Seventh Heaven!! Think about it. Do it! Get back with me Upstairs, k? God bless you, doll: pleasure-beyond-measure is waiting in the Great Beyond for you and eye. Love you proFUSEly, girl (the name of Lenin’s newspaper, the FUSE - he went to Heaven; Stalin, however, went in the opposite direction even with Jesus’ beckoning. How do I know? A hardcore, Catholic friend of mine had a vision). Thus, if you can read-between-the-lines, the musical term MORENDO means ‘dying-away in tone-and-time’. How very apropos for U.S. …thewarningsecondcoming.com

If you're not on a deadline, and you don't feel like writing, then just don't write. Sometimes you need a break. And if you really love writing that much, you'll go back when you feel like it. That's the way it works. But you shouldn't force yourself.

I find I'm actually impressively capable of creating excuses not to work. As paul said previously, its like going to the gym. When I first started going back to the gym I could only go two or three times a week, but over time I got back into it and started going daily. The most important thing is never to allow setbacks to lead to completely giving up!